readingwithcoffee's review against another edition
3.0
I feel like the book was less about translation and more about learning about the author and Italy through translating to and from Italian
zellapaige's review
informative
reflective
3.0
I found narration shifts between the segments read by Jhumpa and those read by the narrator to be jarring enough that I no longer valued getting to hear the author's words in her voice.
An abridged version of my review of the digital edition:
I am endlessly fascinated by writing about writing and writing about literature, but despite speaking two languages I have never considered myself interested in translation and translating. After reading this book, I do find myself incredibly interested in the nuances of translation, but much less interested in what Jhumpa has to say on the topic. I typically think that if I have left a non-fiction book with a longer book list than I had when I began reading, I have engaged with an impactful thought-provoking read. In the case of this book though, any additional reading you may find yourself wanting to do would just be to find the essays comprehensible. As is, a reader has to wade through copious amounts of hyper-specific literature references to find the kernels of meaning and reflection within the pages. It is possible to read without knowing everything Jhumpa is referencing, but exhausting. In its current form, this book is too smart for me. I'm not ashamed to admit my shortcomings there but it is frustrating because a few edits, imbedded author's notes, and literary context would make this readable for non-academics. Quite frankly those changes should have been made when converting these disparate essays into a single book.
An abridged version of my review of the digital edition:
I am endlessly fascinated by writing about writing and writing about literature, but despite speaking two languages I have never considered myself interested in translation and translating. After reading this book, I do find myself incredibly interested in the nuances of translation, but much less interested in what Jhumpa has to say on the topic. I typically think that if I have left a non-fiction book with a longer book list than I had when I began reading, I have engaged with an impactful thought-provoking read. In the case of this book though, any additional reading you may find yourself wanting to do would just be to find the essays comprehensible. As is, a reader has to wade through copious amounts of hyper-specific literature references to find the kernels of meaning and reflection within the pages. It is possible to read without knowing everything Jhumpa is referencing, but exhausting. In its current form, this book is too smart for me. I'm not ashamed to admit my shortcomings there but it is frustrating because a few edits, imbedded author's notes, and literary context would make this readable for non-academics. Quite frankly those changes should have been made when converting these disparate essays into a single book.
zellapaige's review against another edition
informative
reflective
3.0
I am endlessly fascinated by writing about writing and writing about literature, but despite speaking two languages I have never considered myself interested in translation and translating. After reading this book, I do find myself incredibly interested in the nuances of translation, but much less interested in what Jhumpa has to say on the topic. I typically think that if I have left a non-fiction book with a longer book list than I had when I began reading, I have engaged with an impactful thought-provoking read. In the case of this book though, any additional reading you may find yourself wanting to do would just be to find the essays comprehensible. As is, a reader has to wade through copious amounts of hyper-specific literature references to find the kernels of meaning and reflection within the pages. It is possible to read without knowing everything Jhumpa is referencing, but exhausting. In its current form, this book is too smart for me. I'm not ashamed to admit my shortcomings there but it is frustrating because a few edits, imbedded author's notes, and literary context would make this readable for non-academics. Quite frankly those changes should have been made when converting these disparate essays into a single book.
Besides the inaccessibility of this book's topics, my most striking impression was that the existence of these essays as a single book does not make much sense. The identity of the essays as essays on translation is a clear link between them all, but I found the essays almost too similar. Jhumpa ends up often repeating sentiments about translation, and occasionally even contradicting herself from one essay to the next. Specifically, the essays in which she discusses translating Starnone, while specific to each of his books, do not always express unique sentiments about translation. In the introduction, Jhumpa explains that she has ordered the essays in chronological order of the date they are written. Logically, this ordering makes sense, but it also feels a bit lazy and I ached for more flow between the topics.
My absolute favorite essay of the book was the eighth essay, "Traduzione (stra)ordinaria/(Extra)ordinary Translation" about the life and letters of Antonio Gramsci. In fact, to me, the most striking words in the whole book were not Jhumpa's but Gramsci's.
Besides the inaccessibility of this book's topics, my most striking impression was that the existence of these essays as a single book does not make much sense. The identity of the essays as essays on translation is a clear link between them all, but I found the essays almost too similar. Jhumpa ends up often repeating sentiments about translation, and occasionally even contradicting herself from one essay to the next. Specifically, the essays in which she discusses translating Starnone, while specific to each of his books, do not always express unique sentiments about translation. In the introduction, Jhumpa explains that she has ordered the essays in chronological order of the date they are written. Logically, this ordering makes sense, but it also feels a bit lazy and I ached for more flow between the topics.
My absolute favorite essay of the book was the eighth essay, "Traduzione (stra)ordinaria/(Extra)ordinary Translation" about the life and letters of Antonio Gramsci. In fact, to me, the most striking words in the whole book were not Jhumpa's but Gramsci's.
My state of mind is such that, even if I were sentenced to death, I would continue to feel calm and even the evening before my execution perhaps I'd have a Chinese language lesson. (102)
I adore these words for two primary reasons. The first is how well they seem to reflect the importance of language for those who love literature and language. The second is because of how beautifully those words mirror the sentiments of Arthur Meursault in Camus' L'Étranger.
cass_lit's review against another edition
This was fascinating! Highly recommend these essays for anyone interested in language and translation.
paulinagrf's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
littoral's review against another edition
4.0
Jumbled notes:
- 6 Where I Find Myself - the act of translation and the feeling of an ongoing process, an ongoing work - ultimately more familiar to me as the translation of scientific data into papers, which are ultimately only one interpretation of many
- how does the act of written translation and verbal interpretation differ? in what ways do the words for translation and interpretation capture or not capture how each role views itself?
- 7 Substitution - seeing Domenico Starnone’s themes highlighted just after reading the Neapolitan Quartet - the differences between amare and velle bene, for instance
- how has computational linguistics changed the act of translation?
- translation as an ultimate act of attention
- 6 Where I Find Myself - the act of translation and the feeling of an ongoing process, an ongoing work - ultimately more familiar to me as the translation of scientific data into papers, which are ultimately only one interpretation of many
- how does the act of written translation and verbal interpretation differ? in what ways do the words for translation and interpretation capture or not capture how each role views itself?
- 7 Substitution - seeing Domenico Starnone’s themes highlighted just after reading the Neapolitan Quartet - the differences between amare and velle bene, for instance
- how has computational linguistics changed the act of translation?
- translation as an ultimate act of attention